Sign



June 24, 1930.

F. WOERZ SIGN Filed Marchl 18, 1929 lnlllll-IIII il llnlllllllm ....d had INVENTOR. BK 771,04,

ATTORNEYS.

Famed June 24, 1930 PATENT orFlcE s :Banamex wonaz, or wrmnawxmi, NEW JERSEY A SIGN Y application alemrerh is, 192e. serial No. 847,861.

The present invention relates to ysigns having replaceable letters and numerals and adapted Vfor use particularly for house numbers, door name plates and the like.

- I The inconvenience of finding house numbers and names appearing on name plates in dark hallways and entrances is common experience and the primary object of the present invention is to provide a house number or name plate device which will be readily visible at all times. y

Another object is to' rovide a'device which may be cheaply an easily manufactured and readily applied whenever desired. l5 With these and other objects in View my invention consists in the novell construction combination and arrangement of elements, as will hereinafter be described and shown in the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification in which similar reference characters denote .corresponding parts and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of my; complete device .used as a house numate;

2 is a ksection along line 2--2 of Fig. 3 is a view of one of the removable character elements of my device 3 Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the frame cover partially broken away showing my device used as a name plate;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of my device provided with an expanding frame to accommodate a variable number of characters; and f Fig. 6 is a section along line'6-6 of'Fig. 5. Referring to the drawing and more particularl to Figs. 1-3 inclusive, 10 represents o a comp ete number sign which may be constructed as follows:

11 denotes a base plate of any desired shape and shown in the present embodiment as rect-angular. The said late 11 is formed with a. circumferential si e wall 11 which ma be formedby turning u the edges' of sai plate at right angles to t e bottom face thereof or in any other suitable'm'aiiner.

Adapted to snugly fit over said side walls 5 is a frame 12` having. an L shaped cross secn tion for a purpose hereinafter specified. Suitable attaching lugs 13 are mounted on the side walls of said frame, for attaching the assembled device to a wall or step or the like.

In order to make my device adaptable for any house number I rovide removable Character or numeral 'p ates 14 which fit 'into said bottom plate 11. The said plates in the present instance comprise strips of metal of rectangular shape and vare provided with a turned up edges 14e on the two narrower sides of said rectangle. 'On said strips are applied as by painting the numerals or letters or other characters 15 with a lumines- 65 cent or radio-activevmaterial whichis visible in the dark. In order to make said charac? ters equally as Visible in the light they ma be applied on a dark or black backgroun The length of said strips is such that they just fit into said plate 11 with the edges 111 frictionally engaging the side walls 11 of said plate'.

All the character plates are of the same width, and the base late and frame 11 and 75 12 respectively are o such dimensions as to receive a specified number of said characters. Forl instance the modification of Fig. 1 is adapted. forfour such character plates.

In order to protect said characters in said sign a transparent cover 16 of sheet glass, sheet mica, Celluloid or other suitable material is provided which fits over said letters and is held in place thereover by saidI frame 12.

In use it is merely necessary to choose the desired reference character lates insert them i into said plate 11 and lay tlie cover 16 thereover and mount the frame 12 onto said last named plate and the sign is ready for use. In the modification of Fig. 4 I show my device as applied to a name plate 17. The sole dierentiating feature is in the dimensions of the various parts, all of which are reduced correspondingl' andv instead of 95 numbers for characters, etters are employed. Now then it may be that a name sign of standard size or a number sign of standard size is not suitable or'a particular use because of the lengthof a name or number.

. integral top and tending substantially the full len respondi in those o section 20.

-stance section 19 is provide cr such a contingenc I have arran an adjustable frame as fo lows:

y frame 18 consists of two half sections 19 and 20 respectively, one designed to slidably lit into the other. In the present inslidable in section 20. Section 19 comprises a base 19 formed with bottom walls 19 and 19 res ively and c eac having a bent overv top portion 19. The side walls 19 and 19* respectively are provided with a beaded guide h thereof, for a purpose hereinafter -spec ed. Suit-- ably attached to said wall 19 are fastening tabs 19.

Section 20 is identical in construction with section 19 with the exception that its ldimene sions are made suicient y large that the corelements of section 19 may slide The character plates 21 which are adapted to be used with this modification comprise strips of metal or other suitable material of a determined width and a suitable length; The transversal edges 21 of said strips are first bent forwardly at right angles to said strip and then a first bend to form ips 21 llips 21 are capable of sli into said member and then the remainder are inserted into section 20. The section 19 is then 19 thereof rests against the nearest character necessit of having to force the forward edges o members 19 and 19s over the lips of the plates in member 20. I

Any suitable trans arent cover 22 as before may be used. T e said cover is mounted between the lip 212 and the top Aportions 19 and 205 of members 19'and 20.

There is frictional engagement between members 19 and 20 suliicient to prevent them from sliding unless actuated by hand.

, Various other modifications of my device may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described.

What I claim is: 1. An expandible sign composed of two telescopically engaging sections each formed Il in the upper' and lower walls with longitudian end wall 19* said walls.

ve 19 ex- 4 plate in section 20. vThis avoids the nally extending grooved beads slidably interengagmg one another, individual character plates each formed. at its u per andv lower ends with resilient li a apted to slidably engage said grooved ads of either of said sections.

2. An ex andible sign composed of two telescopical y engaging sections yeach-'formed in the upper lower walls with longitudinally extending grooved beads slidably intere aging 'one another, individual character p ates each formed at its u per and lower ends with resilient li s adiipted to slidably engage said grooved ads of either of said sections, and` one of said sections having a length which is a multiple of the width of a character plate. 1

3. An' expandible sign comprising two telescopically engaging sections each formed in the upper and lower walls with longi tudinally extendin grooves slidabl interengaging vone anot er, individual c aracter f plates on which characters are applied with luminescent paint said plates each formed at their. upperA and lower ends with resilient lips adapted to slidably engage said grooves o either of said sections.A

Signed at New York this 16th day of March, 1929.

FREDERICKA WOERZ.

numeral or character plates are first inserted pushed into section 20 until the edge 

